When the holiday seasons come around, families start saving up to get their loved ones meaningful and thoughtful gifts. Many say that the holidays are the season for giving, especially to those you care about. Showing your loved ones how much you care by giving them something from the heart is a favorite tradition for many.
While not all families exchange gifts, they usually give cards.
Sometimes, families who are on tighter budgets don’t always exchange gifts during the holiday season. Sometimes, a card is more meaningful than a gift.
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My family doesn’t “do” gifts for the adults anymore.
Instead, we usually only give gifts to the kids, who really get excited and take joy in the holiday season. For us, spending time together as a family is enough of a gift.
But, many people do go all out for the holidays, especially for their families.
Many see the holidays as a time to show love, gratitude, and appreciation for those they care about through an expensive and thoughtful present.
However, many people don’t expect to receive cards from family members guilting them during the holidays.
Recently, one TikTok user shared the card she received from her mother-in-law, listing out a long guilt trip that really hurt her and her husband.
TikTok user @sageandwine shared the video of the card she got from her “toxic mother-in-law.”
The video is captioned, “Toxic MIL. Not the first time she’s done this.” The video also showcased the card she received from her in-law.
The TikTok user said it’s not that she “expected” a gift from her MIL.
“I just want to preface this video by saying that there is no way you absolutely need to get a Christmas gift or give a Christmas gift,” she said in the video.
The card, instead, mapped out all of the money that her MIL has spent on them this year.
The card read:
“Merry Christmas. Received a big blanket $112.40 Xfinity bill paid! $584.89 on electric bill! $697.29 + gift. Merry Christmas.”
The TikTok user shared, too, that she had unfortunately lost her job due to COVID-19.
“Basically she’ll say, ‘Hey, throughout the year I’ve done things for you guys,’ and y’know she did those things when we lost our jobs due to Covid,” she explained.
As it turns out, she’s not alone.
Across the United States, 20.6-million people lost their jobs due to COVID-19, budgetary cuts, and the closure of local businesses at numerous jobs and companies.
If anything, it makes this card sting twice as much.
While some people struggle with finances when they lose their jobs, this one was not at the fault of @sageandwine or her husband. COVID-19 has affected us all in one way or another.
The TikTok user was more disturbed that her MIL would guilt trip her at this given time.
“So that was really amazing but she chooses to send a card, basically reminding, ‘Hey you don’t get a gift because I’ve done all these other things.’ When she literally could just, I don’t know, not give us one or just wish us a Merry Christmas,” the TikTok user said.
Many TikTok users who saw the video could relate to this type of MIL.
“My mother-in-law pulled my husband aside and told him he should put our house we bought half in her name and half in his so when we separate I would get none,” one person wrote in the comments.
More often than not, MILs can be vicious.
Many said that their MILs are petty, vengeful, and even downright rude when they come over for the holidays — so, some TikTok users weren’t even surprised!
Apparently, behaviors like this are a big problem for a lot of couples.
And, people weren’t even surprised, as many said they go through this situation and then some with their own MIL.
One commenter, however, commented a pretty good point:
“That’s not a Christmas card, that’s an invoice,” they said.
OUCH!
